Law on Conflict of Interest

The issue related to the conflict of interest is regulated by the Act No. 159/2006 Coll., on conflict of interes,t as amended (hereinafter "Act on Conflict of Interest").

Public Officials

The Act on Conflict of Interest defines public officials for whom a range of obligations is stipulated particularly the obligation to prefer a public interest to a private one including ban on endangering the public interest. There are restrictions on certain activities of the public officials and incompatibility of their functions with other functions set out as well. It provides for an obligation to submit various notifications in the form of a statutory declaration which shall serve for findings on possible existence of conflict of interest to registration and control authorities. Under the above-mentioned notifications fall among others:

notification of personal interest,

notification of other activities carried out,

notification of property, and

notification of incomes, donations and liabilities.

As far as CTU is concerned, the member of the CTU Council, head of section and head of department are considered public officials according to the Act on Conflict of Interest.

Central Register of Notifications

The body in charge of keeping records for public officials used to be CTU which kept the register of notifications in paper and as of 2008 in electronic form as well.

Amendment to the Act on Conflict of Interest No. 14/2007 Coll., effective as of 1 September 2017, set up the Central Register of Notifications (hereinafter "Register") falling within competence of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice as a central government body became the central body in charge of keeping records in the field of conflict of interest. All notifications shall be made by the public official at the Ministry of Justice in electronic form as a data message with validated identity through the central register of notifications or public administration portal. CTU became a supporting body instead of the body in charge of keeping records.

Availibility of the Central Register of Notifications

According to the Act on Conflict of Interest everyone has the right to access the notifications in the scope provided for in Article 14b(1, 2) as of the first day after the period stipulated for making submissions by the public officials. The notifications of the public officials stated in Article 2(2) can be viewed via the public data network (Internet) without any further prerequisites. The notifications of the public officials stated in Article 2(2) of the Act on Conflict of Interest can be viewed by the public upon prior request addressed to the Ministry of Justice.

Application for Accessing the Central Register of Notifications – conditions and ways of making submissions

The mandatory requirements regarding the application for accessing the Register are as regards natural person – name/names, surname, date of birth, place of permanent residence, delivery address; and as regards legal person - name of the company or name, tax registration number, place of business and data regarding a natural person entitled to act on behalf of the legal person and their authorisation to do so. Moreover, the application shall include name/names and surname of the public official, or the post of the public official and legal person or its body or branch for which the public officials work.

The application can be submitted by means of:

a postal service operator

an electronic address of the registery of the body in charge of keeping records, or

the data mailbox.

In accordance with the respective provisions of the Act No. 101/2000 Coll., on personal data protection and amendment to certain related acts, as amended (hereinafter “Act on Personal Data Protection”), the application should also include a legal interest to justify the accessing the notifications of the public officials stated in Article 2(2) of the Act on Conflict of Interest, or purpose of further use of such personal data, even though this is not mandatory requirement for the application.

After verifying the application, the Ministry shall assign the applicant a login and password which will be delivered without delay, not later then 30 days after receiving the application, through postal service provider by hand, through electronic mail or the applicant's data mailbox. The login and password are valid for 6 months after the first use. Communicating the login and password for accessing the Register to a third person shall be prohibited.

Initiatives to Examine the Public Officials

The right of the public to access the Register is related to the right of everyone to notify the Ministry of Justice of the facts indicating false or incomplete information recorded in the Register. The Ministry of Justice has an obligation to inform the person submitting the notification within 30 days after receiving such a notification on what a follow-up has been given to the notification.

Supporting Body

The Czech Telecommunication Office as a supporting body shall identify and note public officials falling under its competence (specifically, within 15 days from the date of taking-up or terminating a public post CTU shall note the information into the Central Register of Notification).

Until 22 September 2022 the supporting body is obliged to keep the notifications and applications for accessing the Register which were submitted by 31 August 2017. They are not uploaded into the Central Register. Keeping records of notifications is carried out only for the applications for accessing the Register. The supporting body shall refer the notifications to the Ministry of Justice which allows the access to the applicant. The supporting body shall not carry out a control function and shall not deal with the applications or initiatives to examine the public officials directly- these are referred to the Ministry of Justice as a competent authority.

Further information regarding the format and functionality of the Register and role of the Ministry of Justice can be found on the Ministry of Justice´s websites.